Terms Used In California Codes > Welfare and Institutions Code > Division 2 > Part 1 - DELINQUENTS AND WARDS OF THE JUVENILE COURT

• Acquittal:
  1. Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
  2. A verdict of "not guilty."
   
• Active efforts: means affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts intended primarily to maintain or reunite an Indian child with their family. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Adult: means a person 18 years of age or older. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 101
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Assistant Secretary: means the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Automobile graveyard: means any establishment or place of business which is maintained, used, or operated for storing, keeping, buying, or selling wrecked, scrapped, ruined, or dismantled motor vehicles or motor vehicle parts. See California Streets and Highways Code 746
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• bicycle: means a device upon which any person may ride, propelled exclusively by human power through a belt, chain, or gears, and having either two or three wheels in a tandem or tricycle arrangement. See California Streets and Highways Code 890.2
• bikeway: means all facilities that provide primarily for, and promote, bicycle travel. See California Streets and Highways Code 890.4
• board: means and refers to the Youth Authority Board. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 1000.7
• Board: means the Board of Corrections. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 749.32
• board of supervisors: as used in this division , shall in regard to any such district which has become a subsidiary district of a city, refer to the city council of such city. See California Water Code 55301
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: means the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• business: includes a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and any other form of commercial enterprise. See California Vehicle Code 234
• CASA: means a Court-Appointed Special Advocate. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 101
• Case law: The law as laid down in cases that have been decided in the decisions of the courts.
• Chambers: A judge's office.
• City: includes "city and county" and "incorporated town. See California Streets and Highways Code 15
• City: includes every city and city and county within this State. See California Vehicle Code 255
• commission: means the California Transportation Commission. See California Streets and Highways Code 22
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Construction: includes :

  California Streets and Highways Code 29

• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Continued custody: means physical custody or legal custody or both, under any applicable tribal law or tribal custom or state law, that a parent or Indian custodian already has or had at any time in the past. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• County: includes "city and county. See California Streets and Highways Code 14
• County: includes every county and city and county within this State. See California Vehicle Code 270
• County: includes city and county. See California Water Code 14
• County: includes "city and county. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 14
• county highway: means any highway which is:

  California Streets and Highways Code 25

• County juvenile facilities: means county juvenile halls or camps. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 749.32
• Court: means the superior court, including the juvenile court. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 101
• Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
• custody: means either legal custody or physical custody of a minor. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 742.12
• Custody: means physical custody or legal custody or both, under any applicable tribal law or tribal custom or state law. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Transportation of this state. See California Streets and Highways Code 20
• Department: means the Department of Motor Vehicles except, when used in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2100) of Division 2 and in Divisions 11 (commencing with Section 21000), 12 (commencing with Section 24000), 13 (commencing with Section 29000), 14 (commencing with Section 31600), 14. See California Vehicle Code 290
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Dependent: means a person described in Section 300. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 101
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Director: means the director of the department. See California Streets and Highways Code 21
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• District: as used in this part means any county drainage district formed pursuant to this part or pursuant to any law which it supersedes. See California Water Code 56001
• District board: as used in this part means the board of directors of a district. See California Water Code 56002
• Domicile: means either of the following:

  California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1

• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Encroachment: includes any tower, pole, pole line, pipe, pipe line, fence, billboard, stand or building, or any structure, object of any kind or character not particularly mentioned in this section, or special event, which is in, under, or over any portion of the highway. See California Streets and Highways Code 660
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Extradition: The formal process of delivering an accused or convicted person from authorities in one state to authorities in another state.
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. ^{Source: OCC}
• Freeway: means a highway in respect to which the owners of abutting lands have no right or easement of access to or from their abutting lands or in respect to which such owners have only limited or restricted right or easement of access. See California Streets and Highways Code 23.5
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• graffiti or other inscribed material: includes any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, mark, or design that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on real or personal property. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 742.12
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
• Highway: includes all, or any part, of the entire width of the right-of-way of a state highway, whether or not the entire area is actually used for highway purposes. See California Streets and Highways Code 660
• highway: includes bridges, culverts, curbs, drains, and all works incidental to highway construction, improvement, and maintenance. See California Streets and Highways Code 23
• Highway: is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See California Vehicle Code 360
• In forma pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.
• Indian child custody proceeding: means a hearing during a juvenile court proceeding brought under this code, or a proceeding under the Probate Code or the Family Code, involving an Indian child, other than an emergency proceeding under Section 319, that may culminate in one of the following outcomes:

  California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1

• Indian foster home: means a foster home where one or more of the licensed or approved foster parents is an Indian as defined in Section 3 of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Interstate highway: means any highway at any time officially designated as a part of the national system of interstate and defense highways by appropriate authority of the federal government. See California Streets and Highways Code 746
• Involuntary proceeding: means an Indian child custody proceeding in which the parent does not consent of their free will to the foster care, preadoptive, or adoptive placement, or termination of parental rights. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Jail: as used in this chapter , means a locked facility administered by a law enforcement or governmental agency, the purpose of which is to detain adults who have been charged with violations of criminal law and are pending trial, or to hold convicted adult criminal offenders sentenced for less than one year. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 207.1
• Job order: means a firm, fixed-priced, lump-sum order issued by the department to a job order contractor for a definite project scope or work as compiled from the unit price catalog to be performed pursuant to a job order contract. See California Streets and Highways Code 217
• Junk: means old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber debris, waste, junked, dismantled or wrecked motor vehicles, or parts thereof, iron, steel and other old or scrap ferrous or nonferrous material. See California Streets and Highways Code 746
• Junkyard: means any establishment or place of business which is maintained, operated, or used for storing, keeping, buying, or selling junk, or for the maintenance or operation of an automobile graveyard. See California Streets and Highways Code 746
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Local authorities: means the legislative body of every county or municipality having authority to adopt local police regulations. See California Vehicle Code 385
• Lockup: as used in this chapter , means any locked room or secure enclosure under the control of a sheriff or other peace officer that is primarily for the temporary confinement of adults upon arrest. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 207.1
• maintenance: includes any of the following:

  California Streets and Highways Code 27

• Map: includes plat. See California Streets and Highways Code 740
• Mapped highway: means a highway which is laid out, surveyed, and delineated on a map of such size, scale, and detail that the exact location on the ground which the highway is to occupy can be ascertained. See California Streets and Highways Code 740
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Nonminor dependent: means a person as described in subdivision (v) of Section 11400. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 101
• nonmotorized transportation facility: means a facility designed primarily for the use of pedestrians, bicyclists, or equestrians. See California Streets and Highways Code 887
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oath: includes affirmation. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 16
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: includes any person entitled to the use or possession of real property. See California Streets and Highways Code 740
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, organization, limited liability company, or business trust. See California Streets and Highways Code 19
• Person: includes a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Vehicle Code 470
• Person: means any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company. See California Water Code 19
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Plea agreement: An arrangement between the prosecutor, the defense attorney, and the defendant in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for special considerations. ^Source:
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Primary highway: means any highway, other than an interstate highway, at any time officially designated as a part of the federal-aid primary system by appropriate authority of the federal government. See California Streets and Highways Code 746
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probate: Proving a will
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation officers: Screen applicants for pretrial release and monitor convicted offenders released under court supervision.
• Project: means the specific requirements and work to be accomplished by the job order contractor in connection with an individual job order. See California Streets and Highways Code 217
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Public defender: Represent defendants who can't afford an attorney in criminal matters.
• punishment: means the imposition of sanctions. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 202
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Remand: When an appellate court sends a case back to a lower court for further proceedings.
• Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• route: means State highway route and the route numbers are those given the State highway routes or portions thereof by the commission. See California Streets and Highways Code 231
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• social worker: shall include the juvenile probation officer or the person who is both the juvenile probation officer and the adult probation officer, and any social worker in a county welfare department or any social worker in a California Indian tribe or any out-of-state Indian tribe that has reservation land that extends into the state that has authority, pursuant to an agreement with the department concerning child welfare services or foster care payments under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program when supervising dependent children of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 272 by order of the court under Section 300, and the term "department of probation" shall mean the department of juvenile probation or the department wherein the services of juvenile and adult probation are both performed. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 215
• Special event: means any street festival, sidewalk sale, community-sponsored activity, or community-approved activity. See California Streets and Highways Code 660
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Water Code 12.2
• Spouse: includes "registered domestic partner" as required by §. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 12.2
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Water Code 18
• State highway: means any highway which is acquired, laid out, constructed, improved or maintained as a State highway pursuant to constitutional or legislative authorization. See California Streets and Highways Code 24
• State Highway Account: means the State Highway Account in the State Transportation Fund. See California Streets and Highways Code 30
• Status offense: means an offense that would not be considered criminal if committed by an adult, including, but not limited to, school truancy and incorrigibility. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
• Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Water Code 10
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• traffic: includes pedestrians, ridden animals, vehicles, street cars, and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using any highway for purposes of travel. See California Vehicle Code 620
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Tribally approved home: means a home that has been licensed or approved by an Indian child's tribe, or a tribe or tribal organization designated by the Indian child's tribe, for foster care or adoptive placement of an Indian child using standards established by the child's tribe pursuant to Section 1915 of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Trust account: A general term that covers all types of accounts in a trust department, such as estates, guardianships, and agencies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Unit price catalog: means a book containing specific construction tasks and the unit prices to install or demolish that construction. See California Streets and Highways Code 217
• United States: means the United States of America, and in relation to any particular matter includes the officers, agents, employees, agencies, or instrumentalities authorized to act in relation thereto. See California Water Code 20
• Upon demand: means , in the case of an Indian child, the parent or Indian custodian may regain physical custody during a voluntary proceeding simply upon verbal request, without any delay, formalities, or contingencies. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
• vehicle: is a device by which any person or property may be propelled, moved, or drawn upon a highway, excepting a device moved exclusively by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See California Vehicle Code 670
• Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
• Victim Impact Statement: A written or spoken statement by the victim or his or her representative about the physical, emotional, and financial impact of a crime on the victim. The statement is given to the court before sentencing.
• Visible: means capable of being seen without visual aid by a person of normal visual acuity while driving on the main traveled way of an interstate or primary highway. See California Streets and Highways Code 746
• Vista point: means any signed roadside area on the state highway system developed and maintained by the department for the purpose of providing the motorist with a place to stop to view the scenic panorama or points of visual interest. See California Streets and Highways Code 35
• Voice vote: A vote in which the Presiding Officer states the question, then asks those in favor and against to say "Yea" or "Nay," respectively, and announces the result according to his or her judgment. The names or numbers of legisators voting on each side are not recorded.
• Voluntary proceeding: means an Indian child custody proceeding that is not an involuntary proceeding, including, but not limited to, a proceeding for foster care, preadoptive or adoptive placement that either parent, both parents, or the Indian custodian has, of their free will, without a threat of removal by a state agency, consented to for the Indian child, or a proceeding for voluntary termination of parental rights. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 224.1
• Ward: means a person described in Section 601 or 602. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 101
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.